Antirattler door guide



Jan. 7, 1936. A. E. WEKGELE ANTIRATTLER DOOR GUIDE Filed Feb. 8, 1934INVENTOR A/bzrTE W6! /z. avgi ATTORNEY 5.

Patented Jan. 7, 1936 ilNl'lE srrss PATENT OFFICE.

ANTIRATTLER DOOR. GUIDE- Application February 8, 1934, Serial No.710,264

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in the structure of guide forfolding doors for use on buses, trolley-buses, street cars and the likefor preventing rattling of the door when closed.

The general object of this invention is to incorporate directly, as apart of the usual door guide roller structure, resiliently acting meansengaging with the door guide track to prevent the door from rattlingwhile in a closed position. These and many other objects as will appearfrom the disclosure when taken in connection with the attached drawingare secured by means of this invention.

These and many other objects as will appear from the details ofdescription are secured by means of the structure of this invention.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of folding doors, the guidetracks and the antirattle guide of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the guide itself;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational View thereof.

The common practice with folding doors of buses, trolley-buses, streetcars and the like is to attach a door guide roller on the forward edgeof each door leaf. This guide roller moves in a track which is mountedon the frame of the vehicle above the door. When means are provided toprevent rattling of the doors while in closed position, such a meansusually consists of some additional structure. For example, it is commonpractice to break the door guide track up into sections and to mount thesection adjacent the edges of the door leaves when in closed positionwith a resilient member so as to exert a force on the guide roller suchas will hold the door securely against the door frame. Such a structureis more expensive than is necessarily required and in addition whereadded to vehicles already in use, additional expense is required inre-constructing the guide track which is often a structural member ofthe vehicle.

The general purpose of this invention is to provide a combined guideroller and anti-rattling device which cooperates with the track asoriginally installed for holding the doors firmly against the door framewhen the doors are closed. Thus, without modification of the vehiclestructure, and by the substitution of a single, simple device, the doorsare firmly held, thereby eliminating rattling thereof. The substitutionof devices does not require any alteration in the structure of thevehicle body or the guide track.

The view of Figure 1 shows a portion of the forward edges of the doorleaves and track mounted adjacent thereto in relation to the structureof this invention. Folding doors usually consist of two leaves which aremade up of two or more. sections connected together by hinges. Thesedoors are attached to vertical shafts which rotate on a vertical aXisand which move the doors through the coaction of the guide rollersmounted on the forward sections of the leaves with the fixed guidetrack. The forward section of two door leaves are shown in Figure 1 atland 2; At 3 is the guide track which is usually in the form of a.U-shaped channel of rectangular section; In Figure 1 the channel isshown. as from above with its side walls pointing downwardly. At 5!! isa stop against which the doors move when in closed position as shown inFigure 1. Secured to the forward sections of the door leaves (therebeing only one shown in the drawing) is the resiliently mounted guideroller comprising a plate 4 having a web I integral therewith. Pivotallymounted on the web in a hub 8 by means of the stud shaft 8, is the lever9. This lever is pivotally secured in the hub by means of the nut 8a.

The outer end of lever 9 is provided with a roller 5 which is journaledon the stud I0 secured in place by means of the nut ID. The other end oflever 9 is provided with a nut and screw 6 by means of which the normalposition of the arm may be adjusted. This screw bears against aprojection It which forms a stop with reference to which the arm may beadjusted. When the device is mounted on a door the screw 6 is off untilthe arm 9 is positioned along center line A. This adjustment is madewith the door in open position. A screw ll passes through this stop andthrough the lever 9 and is provided with a nut l3 which may be held inadjusted position by means of a cotter pin 15. A spring I2 is interposedbetween the arm 9 and the nut l3, and the tension thereon may beadjusted by means of the nut l3. Figure 2 shows the device in theposition it assumes when the door is closed. The axis of arm 9 liesalong line A when the door is open.

The device of this invention is particularly adapted for use on foldingdoors. When the door moves from open to closed position, the rollermoves easily in the track and continues to do so until the doorapproaches a nearly closed position. At this time, due to the sectionsof the L door leaves approaching a straight line, the roller is forcedagainst one side of the track. Thus, as the door leaves straighten outinto fully door closed position, the arm 9 is rotated about its pivotpoint against the action of spring 12, from the position shown by line Ato the position shown in Fig. 2. The stop 50 prevents the spring fromforcing the door out of position which would nullify the effect of thedevice. Sufiicient pressure is thus exerted between the door and thetrack to keep the door from rattling.

As pointed out above an important advantage of this structure is that itmay be applied to buses, trolley-buses, street cars and the like withoutremoving or changing any portion of the door track. The usual type ofguide now employed can be removed and the device of this structuresubstituted therefor. The device is also flexible and allows for anyirregularities in the formation of the track and any alterations ordistortions of the vehicle body which are normally incident to continuedoperation thereof.

It is to be noted that Fig. 2 illustrates the adjustment of the devicewhen it is packed for shipping. In use the screw 6 is of course backedaway from the stop M to a position such as that illustrated in Figure 1,so that the arm may swing at an angle to the plane of the door, inaccordance with the description of the operation of the device.

From the above description it will be apparent that this inventionresides in certain principles of construction which may be embodied inother physical forms by those skilled in the art without departure fromthe scope thereof. I do not, therefore, desire to be strictly limited tothe disclosure as given for purpose of illustration, but rather to thescope of the appended claims.

What I seek to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A combination as described comprising a fixed guide track, a foldingdoor supported so as to lie parallel to the track when closed, meansincluding a guide roller pivotally supported on the door so that theroller moves in said track, resilient means for holding said means at anangle with the plane of the door when it is open and a member engageableby the door as it approaches closed position to constrain it againstsidewise movement with respect to the track whereby said means ispivoted to tension the resilient means and hold the door againstvibration while closed.

2. The combination as described comprising a fixed guide member, afolding door supported so as to lie parallel to said member when closed,a lever pivotally supported on the door, a. guide member on said leverand positioned to be guided by said fixed guide member, spring means forholding the lever at an angle to the plane of the door when open, and asecond guide member engaged by the door as it approaches closed positionwhereby the lever pivots to tension said spring means.

ALBERT E. WEIGELE.

